1000

I just got back from California–LA and then San Fran–and because I took the redeye I am pretty knackered. But this is the one thousandth post I’ve written here, which I guess makes for a sort of anniversary.

Here’s something I made before I left; I took exactly zero pictures of food on my trip since I was busy for the first half and on vacation for the second. I’ll write about some of the food on the trip later on. This dinner celebrated the completion of the new painting and served as a reward to my wife for having cooked so gamely while I was working like a crazy person for weeks.

We had some morels from a local place that buys from foragers. All the rains have made for great morel finds, or so I hear; I didn’t get to go on any walks at all. But they were inspiring. Along with black trumpets, morels are my favorite mushrooms. They just have more of that archetypal mushroominess to their flavor, and they positively beg to be served with meat.

I’m trying to remember how the hell I cooked this meal. OK, so I gently sautéed the sliced morels with some shallots, then deglazed the pan with sake and kimchi brine and let it simmer for a bit. I strained the solids out and put the liquid back on to reduce, whisking some butter in to thicken it, then adding back in the solids. I rubbed small red potatoes cut in half with a mixture of gochujang and butter and put them in the oven to roast. The steak was ribeye, boned and trimmed, and rubbed with salt and dried Korean pepper (that I finally found in a nearby store, to my delight). I seared and rested the steak, whisked its juices into the sauce, and got everything on plates. The garnishes were babies: chives, cilantro, and radishes that I thinned from various beds while picking the big juicy salad that we had on the side. It’s good to be home.